Above: Majoreni Primary School children demonstrate their new knowledge of the dolphin species found along their coast 

When Kenya Wildlife Service took their Year of the Dolphin education to Majoreni Primary School, it really was something special for the children of this out-of-the-way coastal village. Very much off-the-beaten-track, this was the first time they had played host to Kenya Wildlife Service and had environmental education brought to them, their first opportunity to learn about dolphins and with the aid of DVDs and a computer screen, the first time that many of them had even seen a dolphin!

Above: The children cram in to the classroom and gather at the window to watch a film of dolphins and other marine wildlife 

The KWS team of Rachel and Emanuel, the Tourism Officer, taught the children about the four species of dolphin we know to inhabit this part of the East African coast, their basic anatomy and biology - most of them assumed that dolphins were fish, so it was something of a surprise to learn dolphins had more in common with people!

Above: The enthusiastic children learning their way around a dolphin

The teachers were equally enthusiastic and full of praise for the KWS education team and Year of the Dolphin, sponsored by tour operators TUI and Pollmans, expressing their gratitude for coming there to teach their children. Although a long and tiring day, for Rachel it was a highlight of her week, and exceptionally satisfying for her to contribute knowledge to a community so eager to learn.

Above: Rachel and Emanuel had to take their class outside, the classrooms not being big enough to take all the children that the school wanted them to teach

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Above: Wasini village 

You’ll have seen in my recent blogs the wonderful Year of the Dolphin events held in Shimoni and Majoreni over the weekend, where the stars of the shows were undoubtedly the children from some of our local schools who used songs, poems and drama to convey important messages about dolphins and marine conservation to their villages.  

Above: Wasini’s school children in anticipation of their visiting teachers 

But this was only possible thanks to the groundwork undertaken by the Kenya Wildlife Service team in Shimoni, under the direction of our warden, Yussuf. In the preceeding weeks their team, including Rachel, GVI’s very own former Marine Science Officer and Expedition Manager, and Jillo with the KWS research department, travelled to local schools to educate the children about their dolphins and marine ecology. 

Above: The children get to thinking about how their marine life is interlinked 

First stop was Wasini, to teach about food webs, not only in the classroom, but outside where they attempted to make their very own food web. For this island village that is almost entirely dependent on fishing and the flow of tourists attracted by the many dolphins and beautiful coral reefs, it is invaluable for them to understand how all the marine life, from mangrove trees to humpback whales, are interlinked and dependent on responsible management of natural resources the whole way along the chain. 

Above: The children start stringing together their own food web

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